On Saturday, February 16, 2008, at the Army-Navy Country Club in Arlington, VA, Mrs. Cora Masters Barry was inducted into the Mid-Atlantic Tennis and Education Foundation Hall of Fame for envisioning and building the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center, a $5.1 million tennis facility located in the Ward 8 area of Southeast Washington, DC. In attendance were tennis greats, Zina Garrison, who is a Recreation Wish List Committee (RWLC) board member and Virginia Wade, who co-chaired the event.
Operated in partnership with the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center serves over 85 District youth daily and provides tennis instruction, tutoring, developmental chess, life skills and educational reinforcements to area youth.
More importantly, due to the tireless efforts of Cora Masters Barry, CEO and Founder of the Recreation Wish List Committee, the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center has introduced over 3,000 youth and young adults to the game of tennis since its opening in 2001. Representing the RWLC were board members Chance Patterson (Chair), Nina May (and husband), Montina Anderson, Dr. Doris Browne, Raymone Bain, Isha Price-Williams (sister of Venus and Serena Williams), Michael Rogers, and Kelly Swanson, all of whom shared the great honor with Mrs. Barry.
Mrs. Barry joins a long list of tennis greats in the Mid-Atlantic Hall of Fame including Donald Dell, Pauline Betz Addie, Dr. Robert Johnson, and the late great, Arthur Ashe. In addition, the 2008 Hall of Fame Inductees includes local tennis legends Mark and Ann Geier and former tennis great Richie Reneberg, former no. 1 in the world in doubles.
Former Mayor of Washington, DC, Anthony A. Williams, along with Barry’s daughter Tamara Wilds Lawson and Sarah Means, who is a SETLC youth on the professional track to tennis, introduced Mrs. Barry to the overflowing crowd, touting her tenacity and commitment for achieving her dream of building the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center. When Tamara Wilds Lawson, who also serves as a RWLC board member, explained the compassion and dedication Mrs. Barry has to the children of the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center, there was not a dry eye in the place.
However, the highlight of the evening was when eight students (Elizabeth and Sarah Means, Jasmine Hamilton, Diamond Herring, Tierra Holloway, Dominique Sanders, Nathaniel Wilkes and Devonte Williams) from the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center graced the stage and presented Mrs. Barry with a bouquet of flowers to go along with her Hall of Fame crystal vase. It was truly an affair to remember for an honorable woman.
- View photos from the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Media Contact: MosesAlexander Greene: (202) 673-7684